Italian in the Mediterranean Area

The chapter deals with the diffusion and circulation of the Italian dialects and Tuscan-based Italian in the Mediterranean area, from the Middle Ages up to the threshold of the contemporary period. Firstly, the copious written documentation from the Medieval and Ottoman Levant and North Africa is considered, with regard to the contexts of production, the functions and the features of the language. Secondly, indirect sources and Italian loanwords in the Mediterranean languages are used to reconstruct the extent to which spoken Italian had spread in the whole basin, as an international language for seafaring, commerce, and other domains. Finally, the Ionian archipelago, Malta, and Corsica are taken into account, by showing how in these islands Italian served as a language for administration, education, and literature, as well as for oral conversation of the educated classes, and was therefore an integral part of the local repertoires.